


how to return home

by mercytio (scundtrack)



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: But Steve Did Work At Scoops For A Period Of Time, By fix it I mean ignore canon completely, California, Fix-It, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Road Trips, Season 3 Didn't Happen, and make something nicer cause canon is sad but this is not!, i just wanted an excuse to make them soft, mentions of neil hargrove - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-25 08:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19741594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scundtrack/pseuds/mercytio
Summary: "it's a whole new game of how to return home"billy takes steve home, it's a long drive to california





	how to return home

**Author's Note:**

> the feedback from my last ST fic was amazing!! and im so very very grateful that people liked it so i thought why not, let's try another!

They left at night, it wasn't too late, only around a quarter to ten at night. Neil hadn't been home yet, he went out with a buddy from work Susan had said, he wouldn't be home for another half an hour which, lucky them. They didn't like the idea of sticking around another full day. They were only even there to say goodbye to Max and make sure they had all of Billy's stuff.

They didn't need trouble from Neil or to hear him telling Billy to _stay away from that Harrington kid, don't think I don't hear you talking to Maxine, a boy like that just might get you in trouble._ He doesn't need to hear it another time, cause Steve seems pretty far from trouble. Even if he talks about fighting monsters and a child with superpowers and even if he has a baseball bat with nails sticking out. 

They leave when it's chilly, just at the end of the Summer where the trees are starting to lose their leaves and when the green is fading into the rusted orange and brown tones that Steve for some reasons associates only with Hawkins, Indiana. 

He's going to miss it, Steve thinks, living in a small town, knowing everyone and everyone knowing him.

It's weird, really weird. Steve always pictured a future with Billy in the only setting he'd know him in. Not sunny California with beaches and piers and houses painted pastel colours with open shirts and sunglasses all the time.

When he thought about it, his future, one with Billy, he thought about Hawkins. He pictured a red brick house, maybe it would be a bungalow. He could vividly see a garden, not too big, just big enough for a dog - Billy seemed like a dog person. One bedroom, messy sheets and the smell of Billy's kind of musky cologne on the pillow closest to the window, furthest from the door. Coffee in the morning, seeing Billy with his morning hair every time he woke up. Pancakes on weekends, Max visiting and sleeping on the couch, Dustin demanding movie night be at theirs because they don't live with their parents anymore. He could put pictures on the walls and invite people over for dinner and he could share a closet with Billy and watch Billy try to figure out where his favourite shirt is after getting out of the shower.

It was a nice thought, a beautiful daydream that pushed him through classes and long days at work. 

But Billy wanted to go _home_. To California, where the sun shines every day and Steve almost wanted to ask him to stay, but then he thought about it more. He thought about waking up and seeing the sun shining through the cracks in the blinds and how it would make Billy glow, Billy smiling on the pier and holding hands in public because California was supposed to be accepting and open and full of love and life. He imagined watching Billy surf and _maybe living in L.A. isn't that bad, maybe it's going to be really really good._ He had thought, then he had said it aloud, to Dustin, in the car home from the arcade.

Dustin cried out in outrage, told Steve he couldn't leave, the party needed him. Steve kind of liked watching Dustin react, knowing he was important to the party but he was going to go. Saying it aloud only solidified the idea, he was going to go with Billy to Los Angeles, California. He was going to let Billy take him home.

The car was packed days before they left, boxes and suitcases of clothes and records and bedsheets, lunch packed into a bag and money saved for gas and a few motels on the way. They would be moving into Billy's mother's old house, apparently, Billy's grandparents had kept it, had wanted to give it to Billy since she had died.

They said goodbye to everyone one at a time, the Byers first. Billy hadn't really got why Steve hugged Ms Byers for so long and teared up when they left. 

He had understood when he kissed Nancy's cheek and told her to take care of the kids though. He also understood when Dustin cried and Steve had to lower himself to his knees and hug him close. Mrs Henderson gave them cookies she made and told them that cookies made any road trip better. 

Hopper and El said goodbye quickly, El hugged them both and rushed to follow her dad so she could get to Lucas' house before Hopper had to be in work. The clock said they were already late. 

Lucas and Erica weren't too emotional but Erica had snarked about no longer getting free ice cream in the summer and Lucas had told Billy that California isn't far enough away for his ass not to get kicked if something happened. 

Max had said basically the same thing but to both of them, she said they better keep a couch open for her to crash on even if it takes days to get there, cause she will be visiting. Susan had even wished them a safe journey but didn't ask where they were going. They didn't suspect that Max had said anything, knowing how Neil could be if he found out. 

They left on a Tuesday, it gave them a better chance of getting a room in a motel on the road, weekends were busy everywhere so they didn't think that would be an exception. They'd been ready to go since Thursday but waited, for that exact reason.

After they got on the road they drove for only an hour, got themselves far enough out of town to find a motel and waited thirty minutes for a receptionist to come out from the back office and get them a room. Billy drove, Steve paid for the room. 

Steve unlocked the door, Billy carried their backpacks of clothes for the next day into the room. Billy showered and Steve sat on the toilet lid talking to him through the shower curtain.

Billy didn't like showering alone, he never really explained why, just said it freaked him out, made him panic. Steve understood, to an extent. He didn't entirely believe there wasn't a reason for Billy's discomfort being alone in bathrooms, but he understood how normal things, things you do every day can change given the circumstances.

The same way Billy understood that Steve cuts his hair sometimes, just a bit because taking care of it is exhausting and he needs something new to stop from focusing on things. The same way Billy understands that Steve can't sleep with blankets over his shoulders because he feels too trapped. 

Steve sits on the toilet lid, then on the floor, then when Billy lowers himself to sit in the tub while the shower runs, Steve lets himself sit on the edge of the bath. 

He talks - sometimes Billy replies, usually, Billy just listens.

He tells Billy about things he's not even legally allowed to talk about, Billy must think it's all fiction. When he's not breaking the law to tell Billy things, he's talking about his dreams. Billy likes hearing about them, or at least that's what he says. He also says Steve has ' _a fucking weird-ass imagination, everything alright up there, Harrington?_ ' 

Billy sits there while Steve showers, he's always faster than Billy and Billy doesn't talk like Steve does. But he sings, always a song Steve has heard a million times playing in Billy's car and always starting quiet and getting louder until he's got Steve to laugh and sing along.

When they go to bed Steve sleeps closer to the door, just like he knew he would. Billy stayed awake longer than him like they both knew he would. Steve mumbled in his sleep, something that barely made sense and got Billy to lean into him. 

* * *

Steve woke up at eight in the morning. The room smelled of cheap coffee, the same type he knew was from the coffee machine available in the reception of the motel. Billy was sipping from one cup and, if it was the coffee, Steve knew it would be black with three sugars. The second cup was on the small table on Billy's side of the bed. 

"I didn't want you to knock it over when you woke up," Billy said, his voice was deep like it always was in the mornings, so deep in a way, Steve's never got. He's sat on the edge of the bed, hair messy just like Steve's daydreams pictured it. He's smiling, Steve smiles back even though he knows he looks sleepy and dazed.

Steve hums as he stretches, it makes Billy smile and huff a laugh so he isn't too embarrassed about the noise he makes at the back of his throat. 

The coffee is perfect, which doesn't surprise him. Billy always gets his coffee right even though he can't quite remember ever telling him how he likes his coffee. "Thank you." He mumbled against the lid of the cup, Billy smiles a little wider and maybe Steve's heart beats a little faster.

Billy's not dressed yet, just his sweatpants that he chose to sleep in and a jumper that Steve is half certain is his own, it suits Billy better though so he doesn't particularly mind. 

Steve pushes himself to sit up more, only groaning slightly when his arm bends a little too much. "What time should we leave?" 

"In around an hour," Billy states, still looking at him with an expression too soft to be Billy, but also too soft to be anyone but Billy.

Steve takes another slow sip, "I'm gonna need to get dressed." He said, his backpack had a shirt, jeans, clean underwear and socks ready to wear for the day but he made no move to open it. Billy would probably just put his old jeans on and complain about being too hot in the jumper on the road. Steve would tell him to just pull over and take it off, then get flustered when he did.

Which is exactly what happened two hours later, it's warm and the sun is heating the glass on the windows and Billy is getting annoyed at it. 

"Just take it off," Steve says for the third time. "You'll give yourself heatstroke if you keep it on." 

"It's autumn, it's not hot enough for me to get heatstroke." Billy snaps, glaring at the road.

"It's still summer technically. And it's definitely hot enough for you to get heatstroke, especially in a car." 

"I'm from California, I'm used to the heat."

"You've been in Indiana for two years, you're used to some heat but not as much as before. Don't rush yourself into assuming you can personally fight the sun."

Billy glares at the road harder and doesn't reply, so Steve doesn't keep talking about it. It only takes five minutes for Billy to pull over and change the jumper into a t-shirt.

Steve admires him, in the least subtle way possible. He lets his eyes shamelessly drift across his golden skin and toned midsection. He watches Billy lift his arms above his head to stretch, showing himself off perfectly. He blushes when Billy winks before the shirt is pulled over Billy's head and then he stares. He stares openly and with affection, eyes portraying nothing but adoration and smile lifting his lips only slightly. 

Billy's eyes are blue, like the sea and the sky, and they're staring right into Steve's own. His smile is only slightly smug but seems much more smug when his eyes are covered with sunglasses. Steve can only think _you're so cool, you're so cool, you're **so** cool_.

What he said aloud was "you think you're hot shit, don't you?" 

And Billy grinned, big and wicked, teeth on show, sharp and white. "You think I'm hot shit. I just don't disagree."

They drove for another five hours, Steve controlled the radio and fed Billy snacks while telling him to keep his hands on the wheel. Billy sang along to the music Steve put on cause yeah, he can admit that _Steve has a good damn taste when it comes to two things, music and guys._

They stop at a diner when snacking isn't quite enough. It's nice, set in a small town they were driving through. The building is painted white and the sign is blue, reading " **Howard Diner** ". The menu they get handed explains that the diner is owned by the Howard family, apparently locals, and that it was established in 1908 by George and Elizabeth Howard. Billy orders their food while Steve uses the bathroom and Steve waits for their food while Billy goes to the bathroom. 

The food arrives far quicker than expected, right as Billy is heading back to the table. Steve swipes some of Billy's curly fries before he can sit down and when Billy raises an eyebrow Steve gives him some of his own onion rings as payment. 

Billy spoke about the journey while Steve took the tomatoes off his burger, along with the pickles. Billy picked them up and put them on his own plate, just like he had at Heroes Diner back in Hawkins. Billy was talking about hours, Steve had never been good at math so he just nodded along. 

Billy explains how they're officially nine hours out of Hawkins and have approximately twenty-five hours left. They'll drive after this just to get a motel and that will probably take them over the state line to Nebraska.

Steve eats curly fries directly off Billy's plate as he talks, Billy has a map held up and is point to places on the way between where they are and where they're going, which is a bit north of where he thought Los Angeles is but Billy's the one who knows what home looks like so he won't comment. 

"I think it shouldn't take long, we can stop in Lincoln for the night and only have about a day left of travelling," Billy explains, pointing not too far from the red X he used to explain where they are. The map is covered in marker lines. There are two blue circles, one on Hawkins and one a bit above the words he can see for Los Angeles and he assumes that's where the house they'll be living in is. A green line follows the road they've already been on and a line of black regular ink follows the route they'll be going for the rest of the way. 

"Sounds good, how many hours do you think we can get in tomorrow?" Steve asks, biting into his burger now that Billy has started to eat his own fries and not leave them available for Steve to snatch away. 

"Probably ten? Maybe a bit more, if we get up at eight again, on the road by nine. Stop for lunch at around two o'clock, we'll have done five hours. Stop for dinner at seven, another five. Then however long it takes for us to find a decent motel." Billy bites into his own club sandwich and allows himself to swallow before continuing. "Then we have around fifteen hours left, that's maybe two days."

Steve is staring again, he can't help it when Billy gave him that smile again and then Billy leaned closer and Steve smiled back. Billy pressed his hand firmly to the side of Steve's face and it felt so very intimate when he wiped the napkin in his hand across Steve's lip and then dabbed his cheek. 

"How the hell do you get ketchup on your cheek, dude?" The spell wasn't broken, he felt like it should be. He felt like the words should call him to attention and make him act normal again but Billy had been really closer and people could see them. Billy had gotten that close knowing people could and would look. It felt like a gift - like he was being given something special and someone was telling him he's worthy of having it. 

When he spoke, it was breathy and he knew his cheeks had been turned pink and his mouth had hung open a moment too long. "I guess you distracted me." He managed to say and then Billy turned pink, he didn't turn away as he had back when people knew him and he had a reputation. He just let himself blush and threw the used napkin at Steve and scoffed.

"If I order a shake, what flavour do you want?" He asked instead of giving a proper reply. It made Steve proud, that Billy couldn't find real words to hit back with.

"Chocolate." He replied, not taking his eyes off Billy even if Billy was trying to hide behind the big menu he held in front of him. "Two straws?"

Billy didn't look up, but he lowered the menu a bit more and was clearly blushing once again. "Yeah, two straws." He murmured softly, looking over at the waitress who walked towards them as she noticed him look. 

"Can I get you two anything else?" She asked politely, she was wearing the uniform for the diner and her name tag read 'Marie' in a smudged way, like it had been worn and touched too many times, which made sense, she looked around fifty and if she worked here most of her life she was probably due for a new name tag any day now.

"Can we get a chocolate shake please?" Steve asked, while he knew Billy could be charming and polite, he also knew Billy could be quite the opposite and didn't want a phlegm glob in his shake. He put on a big smile and spoke as clearly as he could and the Marie smiled back, scrunching her eyes up as she wrote the order down and nodded. 

"Of course, dear. And one for you?" she asked Billy.

"No, thank you, we'll just share if that's alright," Billy replied.

Marie made a soft 'oh' sound and Billy's looked at Steve with a certain expression that Steve was aware held both worry and panic. "Of course, a second straw or would you like to share that as well?" She didn't say it with the snark the teen waiter at the diner they visited when going to Steve's grandmother's house had said it with. She said it as a genuine question as if it was perfectly reasonable to assume that if they were to share a drink they would share a straw. Which, to be fair to Marie the waitress, it was.

"Two straws please," Billy said, with a smile again, a little more flushed probably both from the moment of panic and from the embarrassment of asking for two straws, like some cliché. 

"Coming right up." She said, walking back to the counter.

The milkshake got to them two minutes later and Billy thanked Marie while Steve tried to chew fast enough to thank her as well. He didn't do so well but Marie smiled at him as if she knew what he wanted to say and left when Billy confirmed they didn't need anything else.

Once Steve had swallowed, he looked over at Billy who was clearly holding his laughter, and it was definitely directed towards him. "Keep your mouth shut," was all he said, stealing another curly fry from Billy's plate.

* * *

They got to Lincoln in no time, Steve teasing Billy from the passenger seat and Billy saying the next day Steve will have to drive if he's going to be so annoying. They both know he doesn't mean any of it, Billy likes driving the long rides and loves when Steve leans over the small divide to annoy him and kiss his cheek, and Billy knows Steve likes when Billy pushes him back into his seat when he does it from the way he laughs. 

The motel has two beds but they still share one and Billy says he wants to shower in the morning instead so Steve decides he will too. Steve let's Billy play with his hair 'cause he likes how it doesn't tangle, in response Billy lets Steve lean up and kiss him whenever he wants, which isn't as often as one would predict, Steve happens to enjoy laying back and staring at his boyfriend and thinking about kissing him before it all happens.

They end up falling asleep around midnight, Steve rolling into Billy's side and Billy's hand still in Steve's hair. It's peaceful and slow, the sky is littered with stars they can't see through the light curtains that cover the windows and when Steve wakes up at four in the morning it doesn't take him long to fall back to sleep with Billy pressing a sleepy kiss to his forehead and pulling him closer.

Steve wakes up first this time, he doesn't get coffees but he does go to the small breakfast selection they offer and grab them both mini bagels. 

Billy's not awake by the time he gets back to the room, the clock says it's quarter past seven in the morning, so he doesn't expect him to be. Steve gets their clothes ready and shakes Billy awake after another twenty minutes telling him if he wants to shower he should do it soon. 

Billy grumbles and pulls himself to sit up after five more minutes. He sings Elton John today, something from '83 that's upbeat and positive. Steve doesn't know the words but it's still nice to hear.

Steve talks about his personal vendetta against a man in his dream that was named Laszlo Bunnard and how Laszlo had stolen something from Steve and Steve didn't know anything except that he had to get it back. Apparently, dream Steve had quite an eventful time chasing him down and even met his double who was slightly too unhinged and chased him down a path in the woods and then promptly disappeared. Steve found it weird to run into a version of himself, Billy said it would be interesting to know what another version of him was like, even an unhinged version. 

After they've got dressed and got into the car again. Billy asks; "What did Laszlo look like?" 

Steve furrowed his brows and began to explain "Tall. Taller than either of us, probably not taller than Hopper though. He always wore a suit, except his shoes, they were flip flops, which doesn't really make sense if he's going to be carrying a knife, does it?" 

"No, he could drop it. If he injures himself he'll be distracted from killing you." Billy agrees, naturally.

"Right? Exactly. But he had really bright eyes, not like your bright, your eyes are nice - but bright, like white. Maybe pale yellow. And his hair was black and white, striped."

"Well, what did Unhinged You look like?" 

Steve didn't reply, so Billy repeated himself and Steve nodded and muttered: "I'm thinkin', jeez." 

"Think faster," was all Billy replied.

"He looks weird. He had blood on him and I don't know if it was his own or someone else's. Maybe it was mine, if it was mine would that make it his too?"

"Not really, you have different bodies."

"But he is me."

"He's an alternate version of you, he has his own body."

"Maybe. His eyes were weird."

"Weird how?"

"They looked cloudy like he had died. You know, in movies when someone dies and their eyes get slightly blue and cloudy, like lemonade? Like that. He had my Scoops uniform on."

"Was there blood on the uniform or just on him?"

"A little bit. Not a massive amount, but enough." 

"Enough?" Billy sounded concerned. "Enough for what? Is there a standard of blood needed on one's clothes to be labelled unhinged?"

"No, just... Enough to make me aware it wasn't me. It's not a few drops of blood from cutting myself on the lid to a new tub or getting my hand caught in the register. Actual blood, like it was from a real injury."

Billy nodded again and then, turned the music up. 

It actually took them six hours to find somewhere to stop for food. They ended up at a mall somewhere along the road, Billy said they were still in Nebraska. They good food in a place called PD's Pizzeria, the colour scheme matched the Italian flag but none of the workers seemed to be Italian so they assumed it was just for the aesthetics of it all. Steve waited for them to be seated while Billy smoked outside and banged on the window to get Billy to come in when the waiter appeared to show them to a place for seating. 

Billy ordered it half pepperoni and half ham and pineapple. The wait was longer than at Howard's Diner, only by about fifteen minutes but the pizza was amazing and they weren't going to complain when they got an extra fifteen minutes of Billy shamelessly flirting across the condiments rack.

Steve rolls his eyes whenever Billy can't resist using his corniest lines, but he also has to bite his lip to stop from grinning too widely when Billy calls him nicknames sweeter than the syrup drizzled on the ice cream sundaes they serve for dessert in this restaurant. Therefore Billy counts it as a win, he doodles on the napkin in front of him while he talks to Steve. He does it a lot, just doodles. Steve is always awestruck, he always forgets how talented Billy is at things people wouldn't expect him to be, like art and playing the piano. Billy's good with his hands, good at making things and tweaking with things, more than art or piano. He can fix his car well, even fixed Steve's when he needed it done. He can do that paper folding thing, _oregano or whatever_ , Steve thinks. He could braid Max’s hair too.

Steve can't quite make out what the picture is from looking at it upside down on the other side of the table but the ink bleeds a little and Billy finishes with a swift circle above it and writing a word in his messy and rushed handwriting underneath. When Billy flips it to the other side and draws there he puts two and two together so to say, when really he puts two triangles on one side and a circle on the other together. They're people, he realises as Billy slides the complete and unfolded napkin over. An angel, with a Scoops Ahoy! cap just below its halo - and a demon, with a mullet and lifeguard shirt on. 

"You're..." Steve wants to say something nice, maybe an adjective, maybe a name. He wants to say ' _you're amazing_ ' and ' _you're my whole world_ ' and ' _you're so cool, you're so cool, you're **so** cool._', like he had thought before. They aren't close enough to California for that yet, so he instead finishes with, "an idiot, but a talented one." while he admires the drawing. Billy doesn't acknowledge it's been said but Steve knows he heard it, knows he understood exactly what he meant.

"I think that's ours." Billy breaks the silence after a moment, as the waiter brings their pizza over, he's right and they eat straight away. 

* * *

They drive for another three hours, Billy's tired and doesn't want to drive too much further. It's understandable, they've been on the road for eighteen hours altogether. They end up at a Motel 6 this time rather than a locally owned motel. The bed smells like cigarettes but after sleeping in Billy's room as often as he was allowed without Neil noticing it was more comforting to Steve than anything else.

Billy falls asleep pretty quickly but Steve goes to the barbeque food place he saw them pass just down the road and brings food back for Billy, he'd be fine eating it cold if it came too it. 

Billy doesn't wake up later that night, Steve doesn't bother showering, just in case he does. He'd rather not make Billy have a fair to mild panic if he woke up alone without a note, but there didn't seem to be a reason for a note if he's in the next room - so he waits.

He brushes his teeth twice, cause he wasn't quite sure if he had actually done it the first time and remembered that he had once the toothpaste was already foamy in his mouth.

He joins Billy in bed around an hour later, let's Billy curl into his side and subconsciously wrap an arm around his waist, Billy's head is resting on his stomach rather than his chest and that's okay, it's very okay because Steve feels close to him, he can feel Billy's finger twitch under the edge of his shirt and can feel the way his eyelashes flutter just slightly when he moves his eyes, like he's looking for something in his dream.

But when Steve woke up, early enough for the sky to still be dark, Billy was awake, dressed and eating his cold meal from the night before. When Billy noticed he was awake he simply said: "Thanks, for the food." 

It wasn't comforting, waking up to find Billy already awake and prepared for the day even though it was probably only around two in the morning. Steve checked the clock, okay three in the morning, the discomfort is still there. 

"Come back to bed." 

Billy hummed for a moment, shifted in the seat he was occupying. Steve realised he was leaning firmly against the wall, eyes moving slowly, so clearly, he was still tired. "Can you drive tomorrow?" Billy asked, his voice was deep and rough again. 

Steve tried to smile at him, he wanted to reassure him that of course, he'd take over driving tomorrow. But it definitely appeared hazy and showed how tired he was. "Yeah, I'll drive tomorrow." he agreed, Billy nodded slowly and began to stand up, washing whatever food was left on his hands off before moving his way to rejoin Steve in bed. 

"I'll sleep in the car, you can pick the music."

"You better sleep now as well." 

Billy huffs in response and lets Steve lead on him, head pressed against Billy's collarbone as he easily drifts back asleep.

* * *

Billy wasn't kidding about sleeping in the car. Steve realises only half an hour on the road that Billy's fallen asleep in the passenger seat with it reclined as far back as he could get it with some of their boxes and bags in the back seat. 

Steve keeps the radio volume low and plays one of the Elton John tapes he knows Billy hides in the drivers' side door. It's Honky Château, from '72. The music helps him keep his focus on the road. He plays the album twice before switching it to a different one. It's Too Low For Zero and Steve recognises the song Billy sang to him in the shower a few days ago. It played second and Billy woke up a bit when he heard it. He didn't stay awake for long but he did smile over Steve before curling up again and looking out the window until he could sleep some more.

Steve let that album play three times, Billy woke up every time the second song was on. 

He pulled over after the album stopped again, from the map Billy used before - which Steve had pulled out of the glove compartment - it seemed like they were a lot closer. The numbers at the bottom of the map counted the hours driven and then the hours left, Steve left that for Billy to do after lunch. It was half one in the afternoon and the town they stopped in didn't look extremely busy.

Steve awkwardly shook Billy's shoulder to wake him up. Billy grumbles, twisting away from him and hiding his face in his elbow. Steve shook him again, this time whispering his name.

Billy shifted more, barely opening his eyes before squeezing them closed again. 

"Billy?" Steve said, his voice was only slightly louder than before. 

"Ye, 'm up," Billy responded, speaking quickly and blinking his eyes open again. When Billy finally landed his gaze on Steve, he was smiling. Looking down at Billy, laid in the seat and still sluggish from his long nap. "Why y' lookin' a' me like tha'?" he said, again too fast and only half finishing his words. But Steve seemed to know what he was trying to say and smiled more.

"You're real pretty." was all he replied. Billy huffed and pulled a mildly offended face. "I mean it, you're _really_ pretty, 'sepcially when you sleep."

"Yeah yeah, whatever Stevie." Billy said with a snort, but the way his cheeks were tinted pink, and Steve knew it wasn't from the sun, made it have less bite than intended, "How long were we driving?" 

"Five hours, I figured we'd stop for food then get back on the road for another few." Billy nodded at that then looked over to the map. 

"Did you mark it yet?" 

"Nah, I figured I'd leave that to you."

"Where're the pens?" Steve picked Billy's markers from the front pocket of the backpack he had pulled forward from the back seat. "Thanks," Billy marked the numbers at the bottom, eleven hours left, twenty-three done. "Where about are we?" Steve stared blankly at Billy while he gestured to the map before Steve blinks quickly and looks at it as well. 

"We're just outside Salt Lake City," he pointed on the map to where they started, "following down here," he guided his finger along the roads he took, "then stopping here."

"Did you stop for gas?" 

"No, but we should fill up at the next stop, get some drinks and stuff for the road."

Billy nods, slowly like he does when he's still sleepy. "What were you thinkin' about for food?" he asked, lifting the level beside his chair to allow the back to become level again. "'Cause I could definitely go for something greasy."

Steve opened his door to get out, Billy copied. Steve's sunglasses were fully black, covering his eyes completely. Billy almost wanted him to take them off so he could see him properly, completely. "Something greasy it is, there's a Burger King not far from here, I saw it when we drove past," Steve said, leaning his arm on the roof of the car while he spoke and pushing his hair back from where it flopped slightly over his eyes - well, his sunglasses. "Won't be longer than a twenty minute walk."

And so they walked, the Burger King took eighteen minutes to get to by foot and Billy ordered their food while Steve sat himself in a booth to wait for Billy to return with a tray of food. When he did he was already eating some of Steve's fries and smiling innocently as if he had done nothing at all.

Steve pretended not to see him continue taking them out of his little packet. 

After Steve had finished eating, leaving behind fries for Billy to continue swiping while he spoke, it felt easy. Billy was more awake now, talking lively and bright. He talked smoother, moved like he knew everything in the world now that they were closer to the coast. They weren't anywhere really near it but it showed already. Steve anticipated seeing Billy in California, how he would move and speak in his true home. 

It was bright through the window behind Billy, lighting his hair up like he had a halo and highlighting the side of his face with the slight angle it was at. He was always somewhat heavenly, no matter how much of a dick he was acting or whether he has that dumb, cocky look on his face. He was _always_ somewhat heavenly, when the sun was warmer than usual and when they were closer to home and the light hit him as it always somehow managed to... He was something special. 

It made Steve stare in awe, in admiration and love. 

* * *

They pull over on the side of a road leading them through Nevada only three hours earlier, stopping in seemingly the middle of nowhere. The sun is still high and the air is warm with every breath. "Why have we stopped here?" Billy asked, looking out the window at the land. It was pretty empty, just a large vast dust pile really. Some smaller plants around, a few larger ones in the distance if he squinted. 

"Food break." Steve supplied, opening the door and letting the rush of heat in and effectively destroying the comfort they had set with the air conditioning. 

"Where the fuck do you expect to find food around here?" Billy huffed, leaning across the divider to see Steve as he moved around outside the car. "There's nothing around here, literally nothing, if we keep driving we'll find a place." 

Steve pulled his chair forward, giving access to the backseat, where he pulled out a bag. It wasn't too big but it was clearly full. "I..." Steve started, suddenly getting a bit shy, just like when he suggested date ideas he thought Billy may turn down or laugh at. "I got some stuff, uh, back at the store back in Salt Lake, I thought we could have a picnic."

Billy stared at him, a smile slowly forming and a look in his eyes that was so soft, gentle and full of affection, it should be a crime in at least ten states. "You got a picnic," he says, not taking his eyes off Steve, "for us?"

"For us." 

Billy leans back in his seat to exit the car and is met with Steve grinning as he looks over at him. He walks around the car and meets Steve's hand halfway as it reaches out to slip into his own, fingers laced together and sun reflecting off their skin. "I love you," he said quietly. Steve grinned at him, heart beating a moment out of rhythm. It wasn't like it hadn't been said before, it was just that Billy didn't say it quite as regularly as Steve did. It felt sacred when Billy said it like it was saved for important moments, moments where Billy realised he loved Steve a little more than he thought. It told Steve when he had done something good.

Steve didn't walk them far from the car, just far enough away for them not to be disturbed if anyone drove past - which didn't seem likely since the road had been empty for nearly an hour and a half of them driving. When they reached a distance where Steve deemed the floor flat enough to sit on and far enough to be undisturbed Steve laid down a long blanket for them to sit on. It was light blue with small white clouds printed across it and he held it down while Billy sat on it and put the food down across from him.

Steve sat beside him, pressing against his side while Billy opened a small box of strawberries that Steve knew he'd appreciate. He did seem to, biting into them and allowing the juices to stain both his lips and his fingertips red. The blanket got small red stains too, spread out where Billy's fingers landed to hold himself up while Steve kissed the strawberry taste off his lips and in his mouth. Steve's shirt got lighter red stains on the back when Billy fell backwards and moved his hand from the blanket to the back of Steve's shirt to hold him closer while Steve laughed against his lips and pulled back to present Billy with another strawberry. 

Billy left himself to lay on the blanket, his hair laid out around him with Steve's hand squeezing his hip whenever he handed over a bite of food and the warm air just slowly blowing over him. 

They ate for an hour, maybe a bit more. Steve would lean over and kiss Billy whenever he thought he hadn't in too long, just a slow and firm peck or a momentary _take-your-breath-away_ swoon-worthy kiss. Billy's breath would catch after each one and Steve would laugh at his reaction. The world felt slow and firm with those kisses, like they were the world. They destroyed what would have been left of his rough edges and hardened core, melted them down into a slow stream of admiration and undivided love. 

As he looked up at Steve with the sun lowered just enough to make his face glow orange toned and his eyes sparkle as he squinted, he thought to himself _'You're so cool, you're so cool, you're so cool.'_

By the time they packed up and got back in the car and began driving they settled on driving for another three hours and then however long after that it would take before a motel would be available. It ended up taking an extra half an hour and landed them in Reno. It was another motel six and the shower was just on the wrong side of cold no matter how much they tried to heat it up but they managed. Billy sang a song that Steve recognised as something by Queen from the mid-'70s. Steve talked about an old movie he watched every Christmas and what he thought the holidays would be like out West. 

The room had a TV and the boys sat on one of the two double beds the room provided while The Brady Bunch reruns played. They didn't bother dressing properly just yet, simply in the towels that they had wrapped around their waists and across Bily's shoulders to dry his hair. 

Steve was leaning into Billy with his head pressed against Billy's shoulder where he slouches back against him, Billy's hand pushing through his wet hair. Steve laughed at the jokes on the show that made Billy roll his eyes and snort softly as if refusing to admit he found the jokes funny at all. They fell asleep a little after midnight.

Steve woke up at nine the next morning, brought breakfast from a cafe across the road and return to the room just in time to be there when Billy woke up ten minutes after Steve's return. 

Billy said they could wait to leave since it was only around three to four hours before they got home, he said it with such ease, ease that Steve hadn't noticed he'd adopted when referring to a place he'd never been to as home. Steve had gotten dressed already but Billy didn't rush, just sat on top of the sheets and ate the blueberry muffin from the cafe and sipped at the coffee from a paper cup with the cafe's name on the side. 

His hair isn't brushed and styled yet, messy and curled awkwardly around his face after laying on it for the whole night. It looks cozy, a similar feeling to that of the concept of being at home, which apparently was very close now.

They were in the car at eleven, Billy still pushing his curls around his face and not paying enough attention to the road. Steve knew he was a good driver, distracted or otherwise, so he didn't worry himself too much with the idiot fixing his hair in the driver's seat. 

It takes them three hours and forty-two minutes to arrive at Bush Street, in front of a big house with blue paint and white around the windows. It's beautiful and impressive, but apparently, Billy's grandparents had fixed it up when Billy said he would be moving back. 

The key was already on Billy's set and he said to leave their things in the car until they go inside and decide where to put this.

"This is not at all what I would've expected from L.A," Steve said, looking down the street and at the area.

Billy turned to look at him, from where he was standing by the door. "What?" he asked, blankly.

"This isn't what I would've expected L.A to be like?" Steve repeated in a questioning tone.

"You..." Billy paused, seemingly holding back a laugh. "You know where we are, right?"

Steve looked confused before looking mildly embarrassed. "We aren't in Los Angeles, are we?"

Billy shook his head, actually laughing this time. He was leaning on the small wooden rail of the porch. "Babe-" he laughed again, "Babe, this is San Francisco." Steve looked confused again and Billy laughed harder. "Give me the map," he said, breathlessly. Steve pulled it out of his bag and held it out. When Billy got close enough to grab and unfold it, Steve leant against his back to look over his shoulder as he talked. He was pointing at places. "Here is Los Angeles. Up more north around here-" he gestured to where the blue circle that wasn't Hawkins was, "is San Francisco, this is where we live." His tone had turned to mock what would be condescending if it wasn't equally affectionate. 

"Hey, it's not my fault I don't know California, I didn't really expect to be living here."

"It's okay, you'll learn." Billy comforted, "let's just go inside for now."

"You're not allowed to make fun of me for this, or tell the kids."

"Baby, I'm definitely going to do both those things."

**Author's Note:**

> have fun, follow my [tumblr](https://standardlovers.tumblr.com) !


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